China.

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China is a giant in more ways than one. Its population of 1.3 billion is the largest in the world. In recent decades, its economy has boomed, and is now second only to that of the United States. Economic success like this is unprecedented for a Communist country. It was made possible by the government's willingness to relax its tight control over business and industry. China's hold over the freedoms of it people, however, remains firm.

FAST FACTS

AREA: 3,696,100 sq mi; the world's third-largest country. [Only Russia and Canada are larger.]

POPULATION: 1,331,400,000.

GOVERNMENT: Communist one-party state, headed by President Hu Jintao.

PER CAPITA GDP*: $6,000.

ECONOMY: About 43% of the labor force is in agriculture, accounting for only 11% of the GDP. Just 25% of workers are in industry, which brings in nearly half [49%] of the GDP. Services account for the rest.

LITERACY: Males, 95%; females, 87%.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: Males, 71 years; females, 75 years.

* GDP stands for gross domestic product; per capita means per person. The amount is the value of all items produced by a country in a gear, divided by the population. It often is used as a measure of a nation's wealth.

Questions

Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. How many countries share a border with China?

2. What forms a natural border between China and North Korea?

3. The world's tallest mountain, Everest, lies on the border of China and which other country?

4. Into which body of water does the Huang He flow?

5. Shanghai, China's leading industrial center, is on the coast of which major body of water?

6. What is the approximate distance between Shanghai and Xi'an in miles?

7. To visit the southernmost part of the Great Wall, in which compass direction would you travel from Macao?

8. What kind of terrain lies between the Kunlun and Tien Shan mountain ranges?

9. What barrier affects the flow of the Chang Jiang?

10. What does the dotted-line border on this map tell you about Tibet?

ANSWERS

1. 14 (Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea)

2. Yalu River

3. Nepal

4. Bo Hal

5. East China Sea

6. about 800 miles

7. northwest

8. desert (the Taklamakan)

9. Three Gorges Dam

10. that it is a province of China